Four teenagers are held in unprovoked fatal attack as house party broke up

Monique Revaida (far left) is the mother of Bobby Tillman, 18, whose portrait was shown in front of the Douglas County Courthouse. Police say a group of partygoers decided to attack the next man who walked by, and Tillman was fatally injured.
(John Amis/ Associated Press)

Associated Press
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November 9, 2010

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DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — A teenager was stomped, kicked, and punched to death at a weekend house party after police say he walked by a group who decided to pounce on the next person who passed by. Four have been charged with murder.

District Attorney David McDade said that the four, who appeared in court yesterday, were charged with murder in the death of Bobby Tillman, 18, early Sunday in Douglas County, west of Atlanta.

The party was intended to be a small gathering of about 10 friends of a girl who lives at the house, but it grew to a group of 60 to 80 after word spread by e-mail and other electronic messages, said Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller.

When the girl’s parents saw how many people had come, they asked the partiers to leave.

That is when a fight broke out between two females and two males, and one of the females hit a male, said Major Tommy Wheeler of the Douglas County sheriff’s office.

Wheeler said the man said he would not retaliate against a girl, but he would hit the next man who walked by.

Tillman happened to be the unlucky person, and Wheeler said that several attackers beat and stomped him.

Tillman was still breathing when officers arrived, but he did not survive.

“It’s amazing,’’ said Wheeler. “He had nothing to do with anything; they just decided he’s the one. And they killed him.’’

Miller said that he did not think the victim knew his attackers and that they had attended different high schools.

Tillman’s mother, Monique Revaida, said she wants justice for her son. “He was my only son,’’ said Revaida. “He was my best friend. He was an angel here on earth, and I was blessed to be his mother.’’

McDade called the killing senseless: “It is an absolutely unprovoked, senseless killing.’’

Douglas County coroner Randy Daniel said yesterday that Tillman died of blunt force trauma to the head and chest.

The four who appeared at an initial hearing on the killing were identified as Quantez Devonta Mallory, Horace Damon Coleman, Emanuel Benjamin Boykins, and Tracen Lamar Franklin.